May 2—Charles "CJ" Dzurenka Jr. and Makenzie Bezio have had close to three years to think about their responsibility for the stabbing murders of Sandra Marci, 78, and her daughter Marianne Marci Dzurenka, 55, in their home on Clover Street in Windsor on May 11, 2020.

MURDER SENTENCINGS

DEFENDANTS: Charles Dzurenka Jr. and Makenzie Bezio, both 20, formerly of Windsor and Torrington, respectively.

GUILTY PLEAS: Dzurenka pleaded guilty to aiding two murders and a first-degree assault as well as conspiring to commit murder; Bezio pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder.

SENTENCES: Dzurenka got 48 years in prison; Bezio got 20 years, suspended after 10 years in prison, followed by five years of probation.

But at their sentencings Tuesday, they heard about what they had done in words chosen by members of the Marci family with their lawyer, Jacqueline M. Reardon, who read the statements in Hartford Superior Court before Judge Kevin C. Doyle imposed sentences agreed on in February.

Dzurenka, who formerly lived with the victims and his father in the Clover Street home, received a 48-year prison term for aiding in the killings and a knife attack on his father, all committed by his friend Terry T. Brown Jr., who is serving 58 years. The judge said Dzurenka would be eligible for parole in just under 29 years.

Bezio got a 10-year prison term for conspiring in the murders, followed by five years of probation, with the possibility of up to 10 more years behind bars if she violates release conditions.

"Sandra Marci was a kind, sweet, defenseless woman," Reardon told both defendants at their separate sentencings, adding that she "devoted her life to her family."

Marianne Dzurenka "was a strong woman who inherited her mother's caretaker characteristics," the lawyer continued, adding that she "did everything" for Charles Dzurenka Sr., "including taking care of her stepson, CJ."

Marianne took her stepson, who had a disruptive mood disorder, "to all of his appointments, made sure he had everything he needed for school, put three meals on the table every day, drove him to see his friends and girlfriend" and helped him get his homework done, Reardon said.

When he got his first job, the lawyer continued, Marianne took him to work or made arrangements to get him there "as she felt the public bus system wasn't safe enough for him," the lawyer said.

"For all their kindness and a lifetime of family devotion, they were brutally stabbed to death in their own home, stabbed over 20 times over a 5 1/2 -hour-long period of time, attacked, bleeding out, and scared, begging for their lives," Reardon said.

To Bezio, who was Dzurenka's girlfriend, the lawyer said, "You sat in the home they welcomed you into with open arms, all the while knowing that there was a plot to kill them in the most horrific way you could think of."

Prosecutor Vicki Melchiorre said Dzurenka told police two false stories before finally admitting what had happened — and is said to have been telling yet another version recently that puts most of the blame on Bezio.

Hartford Public Defender Damian Tucker, representing Dzurenka, said he was the child of "two parents who were battling their own demons." He said Dzurenka grew up amid physical abuse directed at him, his siblings, and his mother.

Yet he has taken the initiative to get involved in rehabilitation programs in jail, the defense lawyer said.

The prosecutor acknowledged that Dzurenka's parenting was "lacking" but noted the irony that his biological parents survived while his stepmother, who had tried to help him, and her mother, whom he had nothing against, died.

Dzurenka apologized and said the sentence "is what I deserve."

Bezio didn't speak at her sentencing, but her lawyer, Alice Osedach Powers, quoted her as saying in a written statement, "I am forever remorseful for the victims."

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